Musipedia Of Metal

"It sounds like Lassie’s in a well."

That single, dry observation from the stage during the opening set from Lassie (8) was the moment the room truly unified. A two-piece specializing in "psychedelic folk laced with tribal punk," their 30-minute performance felt more like a series of fragmented, urgent stories than a standard set. Vocally and musically these two delivered. For those of us old enough to remember the TV canine’s penchant for rescuing Timmy from various subterranean predicaments, the ad-lib was a masterstroke of wit that grounded their eccentric, tribal energy in a moment of genuine local humour.

The momentum shifted gears significantly with Scott Hepple And The Sun Band (8). Hailing from Newcastle, this garage rock outfit brought a blistering, 70s-influenced fire to the basement. The band was anchored by an absolutely incredible lead guitarist who commanded her space on the tiny stage with the kind of effortless authority you usually only see in much larger venues. Her playing was a high-velocity tribute to the greats, fluid, technical, and possessed of a rhythmic grit that turned the room into a single, head-nodding entity. It was a sophisticated, high-octane set that left the air vibrating.

By the time The Crystal Teardrop (9) took the stage, the venue was at capacity. I’ll admit to being a newcomer to their specific brand of chaos, but when a fellow Musipedia Of Metal writer like Rich Piva tells you a band is worth seeing and specifically requests you export their debut album across the Atlantic (read hand deliver it) you listen.

The Crystal Teardrop are a ball of kinetic energy, a band that manages to soak their sound in the late 60s without ever feeling like they’re wearing a costume. It’s a blend of garage rock, psychedelia, and acid folk that feels visceral and immediate. From the opening notes, they treated the small stage like it was a launchpad, tearing through a set that culminated in a riotous performance of the title track from their album ...Is Forming.

Alexandra’s vocals are a crystalline anchor amidst the feedback-laden psych-rock, delivered with a conviction that suggests the band is enjoying the riot every bit as much as the audience. A brief chat with her after the show confirmed as much, there’s a genuine, unpretentious love for the craft here that is infectious.

By the time the final, feedback-saturated roar of "...Is Forming" was bouncing off the damp brickwork, the room felt less like a basement in Norwich and more like a portal to a better, weirder 1967. Rich was right, it’s the kind of energy that deserves to be exported, but for Saturday night, it was exactly the kind of noise we needed in Norwich.

Salos are 🜄 on guitar and 🜃 on drums, an instrumental duo from Kalamata who showcase that music can definitely speak louder than words. From their early rumblings in a decade ago, they have grown Salos into a project that brings together soaring post rock and complex prog metal with an explorative focus that is built on massive riffs and blissful atmospheres.

Arriving fully fledged on their debut, there's maturity and experience pulsating in every guitar riff and drumbeat, the A Slaughter For The Empire is cinematic musical masterclass akin to bands that play with dynamics such as God Is An Astronaut and Russian Circles along with the ones that could easily hold their own in the prog realms like Earthside or Intervals.

On Arches they take a leap into some of the high profile juxtaposition of Mono or Pelagic with those guitar lines, heavy moments and the addition of sax from Greek jazz musician Yiannis Kassetas. With Slaughter they bring out the death/thrash metal battery, as We Deteriorate detonates when necessary. Hvitserkur, Leviathan and Sagittarius all have the impressive duality that Salos have crafted for this debut.

Salos shout about their talent louder than many other bands do, proving that's vocalist isn't always necessary, when you have a duo that sound like a collective. 8/10

Vanity's Disciple - Blind Belief… Ill Intention (Self Released)

It's filled with existential questions, philosophical arguments, asks wider questions on autonomy and ideology as more people are able to do incredible things with A.I at what point do states have to intervene on individuals rather than other states and ultimately it tries to answer moral questions that with our own debates about the A.I explosion currently raging, are all very pertinent and perhaps may prove to be a little prophetic too.

There's little point trying to pick out individual parts of this work as it's meant to be heard in one sitting, a complex, cavernous record of two masters of the craft coming together with shared ambition and creative flair. A testament to our digital age that it can bring together like-minded individuals from across the globe, but as this record deals with very well, a small fleck of silver in a huge black cloud. 9/10

Wolfbastard - Satanic Scum Punks (Apocalyptic Witchcraft) [Mark Young]

This is going to be a relatively brief review. You just have to look at that top line to basically get all of the information you will need prior to diving into this album. Throw in that its for fans of Venom, Exploited and Extreme Noise Terror and is a savage welding of black metal with crust punk, and you can be under no illusion about how these 11 songs will sound.

If you are looking for soft, gentle melodies that escape into the spring air, this isn't the band. There are no ballads, introductory soundscapes with cod orchestral movements (in the dark) or anything approaching subtlety. This is a full on, boot to the head old school assault. They don’t attempt to be anything other than true to their art and to themselves. 

By the time this review lands, they will have kicked off their national tour at the Star And Garter in Manchester, and I cannot think of a more suitable place to start this tour. For me, this is a good album that doesn’t stray from a path in any respect. It starts and expects you to stay with them from Its Fucking Dark to B-I-F-F-O, taking in a frenzied 30 minutes along the way. There are some pearlers on here, lyrically very funny but always backed up with a feral punk approach. It may sound like a joke, but they deliver it in a completely straight way.

Wolfbastard are one of those bands where the live show is what its all about. It’s a powerful album, but I get that feeling that once they are in front of you, marshalling that crowd and absorbing that energy then they become something more than what is committed to tape. Its not for the faint of heart, or for those wanting technical wankery. This is straight forward, stove your skull in music that your parents warned you about and the clergy bathe in holy water for. 8/10

Gotthard – More Stereo Crush (RPM) [Cherie Curtis]

Swiss Rock legends Gotthard bring More Stereo Crush to follow their previous hit album, Stereo Crush, and it’s just that: the icing on the cake. This release offers 8 tracks, including unreleased songs, a radio edit, and a fan-favourite duet featuring Marc Storace from Krokus.

It's straight- up hard rock: catchy, nostalgic and feel- good. It isn’t revolutionary, but it doesn’t have to be; Gotthard has been around since the early 90s and doesn’t have to knock your socks off to prove their worth. Their tracks are solid enough to speak for themselves, bringing just enough spark to a classic formula to keep you interested.

It's an album that's felt like an old friend you haven't seen in years - you may not be enraptured, but you're glad they are there. There is a contrast throughout that works; Gotthard provides hard rock nostalgia with a polished and contemporary sheen, so it doesn't feel overdone. This is a difficult balance and marks them as true professionals.

More Stereo Crush features sharp, bristly riffs and gravelly vocals, delivering a lively and satisfying rock n’ roll all-rounder with sprinkles of sentiment. It’s perfect for a long drive or a productive Sunday afternoon, as the tracks are undeniably punchy and raw; they’ll certainly get your hands drumming on the steering wheel. It’s a fun, casual listen; that’s undemanding and feels effortless. Their strength shines through their consistency and their understanding of what their fans want from them right now.

Overall, it’s a textbook hard rock LP. Gotthard hasn’t reinvented the genre here, but they have executed it very well. After all, who doesn’t like a bit of hard rock? I liked what I heard; while it won’t make its way into my daily rotation, i certainly won’t skip it if it comes on. They have stuck to their guns and, once again, produced something high-quality and very likeable. 7/10

Zepter – Zepter (High Roller Records) [Simon Black]

Zepter hail from Austria, and this is their first full length LP. It’s very much trying to sound like it was found behind the back of a filing cabinet in a studio from the early 80’s, following the continuing trend of bands aping analogue sounds with digital kit. Unusually it does that better than most, as the mix has a good low-end rumble that does have the analogue feel I get through my sound stack when I play old vinyl records of the period, with enough crispness and clarity from the digital sounds of the current era. 

That however misses the point I have laboured many times before, that the energy and zeitgeist that those old recordings often had early in an act’s recording career were more often the product of the need to cram the recording process into very tight time windows at ungodly (and cheaper) studio slots, aided by adrenaline and chemistry, rather than whatever benefits the actual ageing recording kit gave.

Musically this is twin guitar traditional Heavy Metal and does this by the numbers. Which is part of the problem… It has a very demo-sounding feel to it, despite the fact time was spent in the studio doing this properly, the net result is the desire to capture the single take effect was of more importance than getting the best out of the arrangements.

Vocalist Lukas Götzenberger also delivers synth and half the guitar parts, and although it’s not specified in the press release, I would lay odds that he’s mostly doing the rhythm parts as his vocal phrasing synchs with these. That works well in other styles of the period, like early Thrash where the staccato delivery of the vocal arrangements aided the overall sense of brutality, but here it has the effect of detracting from the vocals, which is a shame as he has quite a good vocal timbre and range. The net effect is his vocal lines get lost in the mix, which is a shame. I would recommend splitting the tasks in the future, as freeing him up from the six string gives space to expand the vocal delivery into the songs, rather than being a slave to the instrumental arrangements.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the musical feel which works really well instrumentally, it’s just missing that final bit of pizazz that would dial things up a notch or two. A promising start however, and definitely something to build on. 6/10

I suspect that this was more to do with the inability to cut anything new face-to-face back then meant that projects that never saw the light of day, plus a plethora of live recording got to see the light of day in a positive bow wave of releases.

The master of all things progressive varies his style enormously, but for me the releases branded under the Neal Morse Band (or N.M.B. as it has morphed into this time around) always ticked my boxes more than many projects have because fundamentally it was often a bit heavier than Transatlantic, Morse, Portnoy and George, Flying Colours and most definitely Worship, despite the fact that musicians were shared across so many of the projects. 

Absolutely a cross-project cornerstone of the last few decades has been former and once more current Dream Theater maestro Mike Portnoy, and the NMB output often felt closest to that of that most successful of Prog Metal acts in style, whilst clearly being Mr Morse at its heart.

This album may mark something of a change then…

Portnoy’s much publicised return to Dream Theater means a huge chunk of his availability just disappeared well into the medium term, because DT are both globally successful, and fairly prolific as well in terms of recorded outlay, so the reality is that we are unlikely to see Portnoy sitting behind Morse live or in the studio as frequently. 

It’s also been a while since the NMB released a studio album, and clearly Portnoy’s shift back to DT has precipitated one (I am reluctant to say) final studio opus from this fluid and frankly spot on line-up. Time was a pressure here, with a limited window of Portnoy’s availability for direct collaboration compressing writing and recording somewhat, yet as is so often the case that pressure has resulted in one of the most dynamic and fresh sounding releases of the NMB range.

OK, there’s a bit of after the fact polishing going on here, with all the members of the band able to come back and tweak the core tracks cut in the studio from their home studios, but that hasn’t taken away the energy and dynamism of L.I.F.T. A challenge often laid against Morse and his projects is their repetitive nature, but this one feels both of that stable and clearly moving the dial into fresher territory. 

There is a feeling here that they want to cram as much as they can into the record stylistically too, and there are many moments that feel like a nod to heights of the past, but it’s also thematically contiguous, with a lot of lyrically influence from Morse’s religious inclinations, but let’s face it they’re as constant in his recorded output since he left Spock’s Beard as Portnoy.

Unlike many of previous releases though, the energy here makes the album fly by despite it’s run time. When you have an hour and ten minutes of music, sounding concise is something of a challenge here, but the band pull it off because they have distilled all their writing experience together into one polished whole. Not so much a Best of Compilation, as a stylistic compendium of what they all do best, this is one of the freshest slabs of Prog to hit my platter in some considerable time. 9/10

Fangus - Emerald Dream (From The Urn Records) [Rich Piva]

I first heard of the band Fangus when interviewing Sons Of Arrakis for The Rich & Turbo Heavy Half Hour while discussing the Montreal scene and some cool bands that we may not have been familiar with that we really should be. 

I immediately went and grabbed the EP and was blown away by the frantic 70s proto metal vibe, and, of course, the organ. That EP, Meet The Reaper, was so cool and had an aura of mystery to the mad men behind this organ driven goodness. Thankfully, out of the shadows they come with their debut full length, Emerald Dream, and boy does it rip the place up and take that raw, early EP sounds to another level on these eight tracks.

The opener, Howling Hammer kicks it off with a cool, heavy 70s riff that Leslie West would be proud of, the drums kick in and sound great, and then the organ. Oh, the organ. A man named Chub plays all the keys on the record and I bow to his greatness. What an amazing opener and just a frantic, LSD fuelled proto trip that will leave you wanting more and more, which is what you get as Pyre Of Love keeps this amazing energy and vibe going. 

The organ here is next level, which I have now said for two weeks in a row, with the Gjendferd record from last week being another example. While Gjenferd is firmly rooted in the 70s too, they lean a bit more proggy and classic rock, while Fangus goes full Sir Lord Baltimore without ever letting their foot off the gas. 

Layers of keys kick off Psychoïd Telepath, and while the pace slows just a bit, the proto psych vibe does not. This track could absolutely be in a classic B horror movie and steal the show. An organ solo kicks off Quest For Fire before the riff kicks in and the guitar and organ meld to form one epic monster ready to tear up 1976 Montreal. The title track opens up with an operatic organ solo that slowly builds up to that perfect pairing of instruments that is like a freight train off the tracks heading right towards your city center. 

For a second it looks like someone jumped in the engine and took control, until it all goes off the rails again. Fangus has the fast slow/loud quiet thing down pat with the killer heavy psych of Time Gambler. The guitar work on this one is just massive. Shapeshifter sounds like Witchfinder General, with an organ. Enough said. Somehow the band saved the best track for last, as the energy on Stardust Regulator is off the charts, making me try to figure out a way to see these guys live at some point.

Fangus really kills it on their debut full length. Emerald Dream is non stop 70s inspired proto psych heaviness driven by amazing organ and guitar work, great song writing, amazing sound, and next level playing all around. I am not sure how a debut could be much better, given this album has been blasting non stop and am getting really good at air organ. Killer, next level stuff. 10/10

Red Sun Atacama - Summerchild (Mrs Red Sound) [Rich Piva]

Red Sun Atacama are a psych punk band out of Bordeaux, France. Psych punk you say? Yup. Up tempo rippers with some serious mind bending guitar work, cool tempo changes, and a frantic energy that landed their last album, Darwin, in my top 20 of 2022. The band is back with their new record, Summerchild, with very similar (killer) results.

The band self describes as “desert punk” and I can certainly get behind that, especially with the stoner gallop of a track like Conveyor, with its big chunky riff and punk rock tendencies all encompassed by a nice thick layer of fuzz. The opener, Passenger, is a straight up punky QOTSA style ripper that sets the stage nicely for the rest of the record. The snotty vocals add to the desert punk thing they have going on too, which all works great. 

It’s not all breakneck punk speed, as RSA can plant their feet firmly in the (French?) desert with a trippy slow burn too, like on Weightless. At least that is what you think you are getting until you remember these guys love big riffs too. I dig the guitar work on the back half of this one. Great stuff. Speaking of rippers, Commotions lives up to its name with the drum work standing out on this psych punk explosion. That is until it slams on the breaks and goes all quiet…until the (of course) big riff breaks through the wall and the reverb drenched vocals grab you. 

Graze The Sun may be my favourite on the record, with some more killer guitar work, a 90s feel, but also this Hanoi Rocks with lots of Fuzz thing that I hear. Not sure anyone else will but I hear it, and it is wonderful. The riffs are endless on this one too. This one shows how RSA have mastered the start fast, slow down, end fast formula. The title track is ear worm material, showing off the band’s pop sensibilities while still channelling Rated R/SFTD era QOTSA. 

Thankfully Ragdoll is not an Aerosmith cover, but it is eight minutes of what RSA does best; snotty desert punk with a side of psych, with the psych being layered on heavy over this one. The closer, the very chill and perfectly titled Sundown, is just the thing needed to come down from the wild ride that is Summerchild.

A worthy follow up to their last killer record, Summerchild will show the Red Sun Atacama are the real deal and in no way any sort of side project or one off thing. Eight driving songs touching on a bunch of genres but never veering off the path of awesome. 9/10

White Skies – Shouting At The Hurricane (Conquest Music) [Simon Black]

I first came across White Skies opening up for Ten at a show in Cardiff about 18 months ago and was hugely impressed by them at the time. It was a tough gig to open, as despite the calibre of the headliner the promoters at The Globe elected to do zero publicity whatsoever, so the room was rather depressingly sparse for them (never mind for the headliners), yet they did an admirable job of delivering their well-crafted Melodic / AOR Rock to an audience that had never heard of them. 

It was good enough for me to splash out on their debut CD Black Tide that night, and the album did not disappoint either, so spotting this sophomore in the slush pile at Musipedia Towers (well, more of a two up, two down to be honest) was a no-brainer for me.

Shouting At The Hurricane does not buck the trend. It’s a consistently strong album, which, as the title implies has a slightly rougher edge to it than its predecessor. Not in terms or recording or quality, but it’s definitely more a Hard Rock affair than their debut, although there’s plenty of steady synth-laden hooks that the fan base isn’t going to see too much of a step beyond their debut. 

To be fair, the band may be new, but the members are all old school pros. White goes all the way back to one of the late 80’s incarnations of Samson, and many things since, but the rest of the band have been around the block some as well. That’s always a help when everyone has a depth of writing and recording experience and often means they tend to cut straight to the point with little padding when the chemistry is right. Which it certainly is here.

When an album kicks things off with the two banging singles, then I usually start to worry that there is a risk of shooting the load a little early, but in this instance, I need not have lost anymore hair than time and genetics have already taken so cruelly from me. These two are obvious singles to be fair, particularly 88 Crash, which has all the anthemic hallmarks of a track that they will be closing their live sets with forever, but quality and consistency are in harmony here. This album is positively dripping with catchy anthems however…

The evening began with Profiler (8). In a world where nu-metalcore is often reduced to a series of predictable breakdowns, this lot manages to find a much more vulnerable frequency. Their set was a masterclass in balance; the guitars were thick and bruising, yet they left enough air in the room for the emotive, almost fragile vocal lines to land. It’s a sophisticated sound, properly technical but never cold. They didn't just warm up the room; they filled it with a dense, atmospheric weight that felt far larger than the guys on stage.

By the time The Hara (8) took the stage, the humidity in the room had reached a tipping point. Josh Taylor and his lot don't just "perform" a set; they stage a minor riot. From the opening salvos of Autobiography and Faking It, it was clear that the "genre-less" label they wear is less of a marketing tag and more of a survival strategy. They move through alt-rock, pop-punk, and gritty industrial-tinged anthems with a frantic, heart-attack energy that refuses to settle.

The highlight of the night was the sheer, unvarnished charisma of Taylor. He spends as much time in the crowd as he does on the stage, turning the tiny Waterfront Studio into a single, kinetic entity. Tracks like Okay That's Me and Circus were delivered with a level of vocal precision that survived the chaos of the mosh pit. It’s a polished, professional act dressed up in a "fuck you" attitude.

The setlist was a relentless march through their latest material, peaking with the roar of Afterlife. Without the need for massive screens or arena-sized pyrotechnics, The Hara proved that they are one of the most dynamic live acts currently working the circuit. They have a gift for making every person in a two-hundred-cap room feel like they are part of something exclusive and dangerous.

It was an honest, exhausting, and utterly brilliant bit of work. The Hara provided the proof that you don't need a stadium to create a massive moment. This was a reminder of why we bother with small-club shows in the first place, loud, intimate, and massively important for both bands and the people who want to see them.